Recently retired by NEBC but still on the shelves all over the area this is one of the first canned craft beers ever sold in New England. Atlantic Amber, as you'll read below, is brewed like a steam beer (or California common) and yet its categorized as an amber ale but won the 1993 GABF gold medal in the "altbier" category. Say huh? 

From the New England Brewing site:

"This is our flagship beer. The Atlantic is a medium bodied beer made in the uniquely American, steam styling of brewing. In “brew-guy speak” that means it’s brewed with lager yeasts at ale temperatures. Brewing a slightly sweeter, richer, caramel malt and two varieties of hops in this style makes for a truly unique flavor. Unique enough to make it an award winner at the 1993 Great American Beer Festival. You need this!"

Here we go...

Pour - sort of hazy amber/orange/red due to the cold temperature coming out of the can. As it warms it clears up. Big foamy head on top with some sediment swirling about. Can-conditioned goodness!

Aroma - sweet malt, orange rind, pineapple, stewed apples and a little lemony. Mostly the malt stands out as to be expected.

Taste - one big sip and there is plenty of proof that this is a very easy drinking session-able brew. The maltiness is not too dominating and there is a nice crisp bite to this beer. This is the type of beer that a lot of people can agree on as its non-offensive in almost every way. It would please the lager and non-lager drinkers alike as well as the craft geeks and the macro-lovers as well. 

Overall - A very solid and well produced amber ale. Nothing too fancy but its the little things with this style. It all comes together nicely with no faults and just a lot of great tastes. I am sure many people will miss this one, although I hear it may make a come back in the future.

Would I buy more of it? - n/a

Note - Now that Atlantic Amber is gone one would expect the New England Brewing lineup to go through some changes. I've heard rumors of new labels for their current two-can lineup (Elm City Lager and Sea Hag IPA) and they've bought a ton of blank 16 oz. pint cans which they are filling with special release such as their recent Gandhi-Bot Double IPA and the soon to be release 668 Neighbor of the Beast.